Are You Behind the Curve for Full-Time Graduate Recruiting?
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 6:00 AM PDT. Hosted by Fiona Taft.
In this Zoom session, Fiona Taft explained where the full-time graduate recruiting cycle stands in quantitative finance and what firms look for in…
What this session covered
In this Zoom session, Fiona Taft explained where the full-time graduate recruiting cycle stands in quantitative finance and what firms look for in candidates. She covered the different types of sell-side and buy-side firms, application materials including resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles, networking strategies, technical and behavioral interview preparation, and a short-term action plan.
Key takeaways
- Graduate roles started coming out in July and August and many will close by the end of October, so anyone who has not started applying is behind and has about five to six weeks.
- Graduate roles are meant for people with zero to two years of experience, and someone who had prior experience but went back to school for a master's is still considered a grad.
- Fiona advised applying through each firm's career site rather than LinkedIn, because in her experience LinkedIn applications get stuck or take longer to reach the recruiter or hiring manager.
- The first step is usually an online or technical assessment, and you need to score high on it, not just pass, to be invited to the HR interview.
- Starting on the sell side can be a good strategy because big banks provide training and certifications that buy-side hiring managers value, and she said buy-side firms would rather see a couple of years at a sell-side firm than time at a second or third tier hedge fund.
- When reading job descriptions, you do not need every listed skill but should have at least the top three, and you should check whether your graduation date makes you eligible.
- In networking, quality matters more than quantity: ten deep connections are better than a hundred superficial ones, and following up with your contacts is essential.
Questions covered
Answers are edited for clarity.
When does full-time graduate recruiting actually start, and why does it happen now rather than at graduation?
A big mistake students make is holding on to application links and planning to apply after they graduate; by then, these grad roles will have been filled. Quant firms recruit very early, putting out offers as early as October, November and January, because they want to lock in good quant talent. If you wait until you graduate, it's going to be too late, so apply now.
What mistakes cost strong candidates their shot?
It's not being prepared. That means not having your materials ready, and not being ready for your behavioral and technical interviews.